The Goo 1
Editors Note AUG-SEPT 23 JOHN BRERETON Contributo
rs: Paul McDermott Dan Hegarty Shar Dullaghan Sarah O’Sullivan Ethan Golding Adhamh O’Caoimh Cliodhna Ryan Niall McGuirk Oran O’Beirne Fearghal Curtis Conor Farrell Nikki Raymond Des Traynor Craig McComish Paul Fitzpatrick Alan Monnelly David Carr Eugene Connolly Miles Anderson Design & Layout: foxandmouse.ie Photography: Jilly McGrath (cover pic) Norma Burke Illustration: Glenn Brown (Sinead O'Connor) Social Media: John Brereton Editorial: John Brereton jb@hkm.ie Listings Editor: Christine O’Growney Listings: thegoolistings@gmail.com Sales: Stefan Hallenius sh@hkm.ie - 087 3271732 Kevin Gibbons kg@hkm.ie - 085 8697078 Published by: HKM Media, 73 Leeson St Lower, Dublin 2 It’s been a poxy month weatherwise for Festivals but the resolve of Irish music lovers to enjoy no matter what’s thrown at them is always heartening. As we begin to move back indoors it’s also brilliant to see the amount of new Irish albums scheduled for release over the coming months from heavyweights and contenders alike. First out of the blocks is the gorgeous new record from Galway based artist Maija Sofia. ‘True Love’ follows on from her debut ‘Bath Time’ with more explorations of the female experience through art, folklore and the environment. We talked to her about the making of the record, her thoughts on devotion and the weird and wonderful influences that kickstarted Maija’s musical journey. Every few months we seem to be mourning the loss of another venue or radio show or someone or something that supported new Irish music so it’s heartening to be featuring a story that is successfully sticking around. 8Radio celebrates its tenth birthday in September and suffice to say it has been a vital cog in championing Irish music (and quality sounds from around the globe) over that decade. Head honcho Simon Maher has stuck to his guns on their music policy and deserves to be commended for that stance in an era of uber commerciality. The online digital station hits the FM airwaves during the month so I implore you to tune in and discover its wonderful range of shows and knowledgeable presenters. We chatted to the station’s radiant program manager and presenter of the afternoon show, Dan McDermott, about his love for the medium. Another nice story to feature is the addition of a new classical music venue, Whyte Hall, housed in the Royal Academy of Music on Westland Row. It’s a superb, much needed 400 capacity facility for small ensembles and chamber music that will transform the show calendar in this genre. Trycksak 5041 0004 We chatted to Deborah Kelleher, Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music about the launch of the new venue. Shane O’Neill and Dave Long are great company, full of brilliant stories about their respective times in the music scene with Blue In Heaven/ The Blue Angels and Into Paradise but here we focussed mainly on the great record they made together. ‘And You Can’t Dream That’ is an elegiac journey into what made these guys into who they have become and evokes brilliant memories of a distant past in Dublin while ultimately being a love letter to the power of music. Finally, as Dan Hegarty says in his column on page 15 " Ireland as a country has developed so much over the past three decades, and Sinead O’Connor was one of the people who helped us get here. I hope that she had some idea of how much she was loved and admired." Everyone at The Goo echoes these words implicitly, she was our queen, our colossus. Rest In Peace Sinead. * We will have a Sinead O’Connor appreciation feature in our next issue. PAGE 3 S E V A R N Ä E M N K T